Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Well I'm back and as I promised this time I will be discussing the top 10 Disney animated guys that I find to be the most attractive. Now of course there are a quite a lot of Disney men to choose from and believe me I had a hard time just trying to choose ten of them! As with my other list of animated men not from Disney flicks the qualities of personality, attractiveness and even the voice acting of the actors portraying these Disney hunks had a lot to do with whom I chose. Also again everyone has their own opinions so don't be cruel or harsh on my choices or reasons for why I find them to be attractive...just enjoy these guys if any of them strike your fancy, ladies ;) !! Gentlemen, if any are reading this, you may need to take some notes and if not I give you permission for a few stifled laughs...

#10. Prince Naveen of Maldonia from The Princess And The Frog voiced by actor Bruno Campos

So of course Naveen starts off a little on the conceited side to most people being a womanizing, playboy prince who is lazy and irresponsible but who can blame someone that has been pampered all their life? Well it's proven that Naveen isn't entirely just a pretty face he is well educated and can play a mean ukulele he just isn't very skilled at anything else like making food or even genuinely courting a girl he has feelings for. His relationship with Tiana starts of rocky but in the end he is loyal to her and puts her own needs before his own which in real life is how some men become once they fall in love and become husbands or even fathers.

Most of my reason why I like Naveen comes from his voice actor, Bruno Campos. I first saw him in what has probably become my favorite episode of Cold Case in Season 5 called "Lonely Hearts" (mostly because Heart's "Alone" plays at the end but I digress...) He played a con man who romanced women and then stole from them but eventually fell in love with one of his marks and became devastated when she was murdered.

Anyway, his looks are very nice and his voice is charming whether it handles an American accent or even the one he uses for Naveen which is French and his natural Portuguese accent mixed together (he was born in Brazil where Portuguese is the official language for any of you unaware...) Today he does occasional acting but is mostly working as a litigation associate for a law firm so if you need a handsome lawyer to represent you odds are this hunky actor might be it!

#9. Hercules from the 1997 film voiced by actor Tate Donovan

Who wouldn't want a guy like Hercules as a boyfriend? Sure he's the son of the gods Zeus and Hera (only in Disney Canon...the Greek mythology is loads more complicated!) gifted with super strength and could actually be considered a prince but being raised as a mortal gives him a more down to Earth personality. We all probably know or remember being awkward and clumsy when we were younger or being very gangly and out of place and that's exactly how a younger Hercules felt. Despite that he grows up and besides developing a nice body and a slightly less sense of awkwardness when it comes to his strength causing damage but not in his normal earnest personality or wooing women. Not a playboy like Naveen, Hercules still falls in love with Meg(ara) from the moment he sees her and she eventually comes to love him after seeing his compassion and who wouldn't want a man to risk their very lives if it meant saving yours and almost dying in the process!?

I don't think they could have picked a better actor than Tate Donovan to voice Hercules. He conveys through his voice the character's awkward, shy yet compassionate nature towards others but also the anger needed to make Hercules a true hero in fighting Hades without making him seem the over muscled brute of ancient mythology or even gritty reboots. My first so biased favorite film of Donovan's has to be Love Potion #9 where he played almost the exact same character and goes to show nice guys can get the girl and in real life if you used to date Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Aniston then you must be doing something right!

The Hunchback of Notre Dame made into a film you are going to show your children has to have a lot toned down and even though it is still one of the more adult and darker toned DISNEY films I'm so glad they made Phoebus less of a jerk! In the novel, Phoebus is an arrogant, vain and prideful man who only uses Esmeralda for sex, has a fiancée he cheats on and then causes the death of others with no remorse! In this interpretation, Phoebus is a soldier and Captain of The Guard who is for justice as long as innocent people are not hurt or killed, has a sarcastic yet funny wit and a heart of gold that befits his sun god name.

I am not ashamed to admit that I have a crush on Kevin Kline and while you may think it's just because I have an affinitive for older men you couldn't be more wrong it is his extreme talent that impresses me. He has won Tony awards, is a marvelous Shakespearean actor which makes him great at drama, has a comedic wit that won him an Academy Award and never fails to make me laugh as well as being a humanitarian volunteer in the research of juvenile diabetes because his son was diagnosed with it. Also he has been married to actress Phoebe Cates since 1989 (that's almost 30 years!) so all the boys who wanted her thanks to Fast Times At Ridgemont High lucked out when she married the charismatic Kline, a man sixteen years her senior! So I guess there is a point in liking older men especially if it's someone like Kevin Kline who can make you laugh and then recite you a sonnet of The Bard enough to move you to tears and sweep you off your feet at the same time!

#7. Tarzan from the 1999 film voiced by actor Tony Goldwyn

I would imagine in real life if you met a man who had been raised by gorillas his whole life, never wore clothes bigger than a hand towel and had dreadlocks nowhere as nice as Bob Marley's because it wasn't part of your faith but because you never got to experience a nice shampoo massage on your scalp you might not be so inclined to date him. Tarzan has always been romanticized with his muscled arms, trim abs and loincloth to reveal a lot more skin so it's kind of nice to see a gentle personality bring more to the table than beefcake. Found after his parents are killed by a leopard and raised as the son of a female gorilla, Tarzan looks nothing like his adoptive family so he is also shunned from being a son to Kerchak, the leader of gorillas and mate to Kala.

When Jane Porter and her father arrive from England to study gorillas, she meets Tarzan and the two become fascinated with each other and end up falling in love. Since he is a man and not an ape, Tarzan soon starts to speak rather eloquent English, walking more upright and is seen to be rather intelligent in imitating motions from moving pictures and gunshots, building umbrellas from tree leaves and even looks good in a suit! Intimidating when called for with his intense eyes and famous yell, Tarzan can also be very gentle with those same eyes, almost puppy-dog like, and those same hands that can kill a leopard end up examining Jane's face with such tenderness.

Now when I learned Tony Goldwyn was the voice behind Tarzan at first I was skeptical that the same guy who played evil Carl Bruner that ended up being the guy to kill Patrick Swayze's Sam Wheat by hiring his murderer in Ghost was the same man playing the non-evil and kind-hearted Tarzan. I guess that's the power of Goldwyn's acting going from being such a jerk to such a great Disney character and now he plays a president with a mistress on Scandal. Not only is Tony Goldwyn a brilliant actor but he is also a film director, television director and son of the late movie producer Samuel Goldwyn Jr. which makes him the grandson of one of the movie industry's pioneers. He may have been born to privilege but Tony's talent and good looks are his own and boy does he own them!

#6. Kristoff from Frozen voiced by Broadway actor Jonathan Groff

Yes like many, many...many people I love Frozen! The plot lines pay homage and differentiate from the Disney norms with less romantic love and more familial love between sisters but still produces beautiful animation and ear-worm songs that enchant and annoy. The characters are some of the most popular, complex and almost human characters for people to relate to, sympathize with, laugh with and maybe for you Disney haters to I guess criticize and even loathe. Kristoff is one of those Disney men that is far more realistic to those usual slender built or athletically gifted princes and heroes but gets his brawn from hauling and harvesting ice which is hard work that most of the others have never had to do in their lives.

He's also realistic in how romance is supposed to work and in how most men act because in reality you aren't going to be meeting a prince to wed along every street corner especially if you are an American like me who lives in the small town (I've got my man who is more like Kristoff in that fact and I'm okay with that.) Some of us are also like Kristoff in the fact that we don't really like to keep company with people as most are unkind but we do get along well with those closest to us that we have genuine love and affection toward (like our pets even!) So personality wise Kristoff is relatable but he is also realistically attractive with his warm brown eyes, broad shoulders and a blond hairstyle that without his hat is sported by more men or at least the ones I know than the perfectly coifed hair of many a Disney man.

I have to admit that Jonathan Groff is quite a cutie and man can he sing! As much as I detest Glee (people who like the show don't hurt me!) I have heard his Broadway vocals from Spring Awakening on YouTube and he has a very nice singing voice. He has also been in the soap opera One Life To Live ( one I don't watch but unless its General Hospital I don't really watch them...) so the television roles aren't as fruitful as the theater ones or as famous as Kristoff but you know he's young to have a successful career for many, many more years. I also am proud that he is an open gay man in the industry and he seems to be a great role model for any other younger men who may still feel ashamed about their sexuality and afraid to come out (but yet again I state why do all the cute ones have to be gay?) Another good one of the market for us ladies *sigh* but a potential love match for some lucky gentleman out there ;)...

#5. Aladdin from the 1992 film voiced by actor Scott Weinger

When Aladdin came out in 1992, it was the Disney film of the moment and was the big thing until The Lion King came out but even then it still had relevance as it spawned two sequels and even a television show that I admit I watched every day it was on. I think it's mostly because Aladdin is such a great character that you could flesh out his backstory to reveal a very personable young man that other guys can relate to and that women can crush on with ease. Not having a father or a mother to raise him, young Aladdin pretty much has to take care of himself from a young age which eventually leads to stealing. So when he's a young man in his late teens, even though he goes through mayhem just to get a loaf of bread in the end he'll give it to starving children that remind him of his own struggles and he also won't be afraid to stand up to anyone willing to hurt or degrade others even if he himself is still slightly insecure.

He was originally supposed to be designed with a build like Michael J. Fox but then became more athletic like Tom Cruise but still with those few "Marty McFly" traits. The television show brought more of his backstory into light and in the show, we see he still lives in his hovel instead of the comfort of the palace which rightfully being engaged to Princess Jasmine he could do but doesn't and at times still gets treated like the same old street rat. Despite that, he still has the Sultan's respect and remains true to Jasmine no matter what or who may throw themselves at him (villains and other women included!) By the time the third movie , Aladdin And The King Of Thieves, wraps up the franchise Aladdin is older, wiser and definitely ready to be a leader of Agrabah when his time comes.

As a tween girl in the 90s I know there are many girls out there who crushed hard on Scott Weinger when he played D.J. Tanner's boyfriend Steve Hale on Full House (I was one of them!) and most of them probably didn't realize he had voiced Aladdin until years after the film. I always liked Scott as Steve because he put up with some of the quirkiness and weirdness the Tanner family experienced, didn't mind having Kimmy Gibbler as a third wheel and he really loved D.J. enough to come back and be her senior prom date in the show's last episode despite being broken up for quite sometime (why can't all people and their ex-significant others be as civil in real life?). Still very attractive, Scott is now mostly a writer and producer for Hollywood but he still has time to lend his voice to Aladdin in Kingdom Hearts and still be a first crush for many of us girls of the early 90s.

Yes I can imagine a lot of booing, hissing and confusion being muttered out there for my fourth choice. I never said it had to be just one guy per film and I never said that villains did not count so let's clear that up. Next to those who ask why I rate Hans higher than Kristoff yes in the plainest of terms it is because I find him more attractive and more my type when it comes to real life men and also sometimes there are villains out there you can't help but crush on in films or on television and mine just happens to be Hans. I think Prince Hans is one of the more terrifying villains in the Disney canon because he's not just right in your face evil...he's hidden behind a handsome, innocent face with a sociopathic mind and that's way more frightening than any witch, sorcerer, dragon or monster.

Some girls may even be with a guy like Hans at this very moment or use to be with him or maybe you all know someone like him and that necessarily doesn't mean they are sociopaths on purpose after all no one takes into consideration that maybe Hans wasn't lying about being bullied by his older brothers and receiving no affection from them or his parents. As it's stated on ABC's Once Upon A Time (where coincidentally Frozen just got done being the main arc of the first half of its fourth season and is one of my favorite shows!) it is always stated that evil isn't born it is made and even in real life that is true or so I hope...

I will admit to you that I know not a lot about Santino Fontana except that he is a Broadway actor with a lovely speaking and singing voice and that he is the same age as my fiancé. The credit on Broadway he is most known for is playing Prince Topher (short for Christopher) in the 2013 version of Cinderella written by Rodgers & Hammerstein which is one of my favorite musicals and one of my favorite fairy tales. So I guess if you would like to hear Santino Fontana (does he not have a fantastic name?) as an actual good and charming prince you can find the soundtrack album and scenes from the show online of course on YouTube.

Now I can't really remember if I saw The Little Mermaid in the theater but I do know that for my seventh birthday I got a Little Mermaid birthday cake and the movie itself for a birthday present. Yep it was actually the first Disney film I really became infatuated with having dolls, coloring books, t-shirts and jewelry driving that merchandise until The Lion King came out. So of course you know that means that Prince Eric was probably like a dream come true to every girl my age as for most of us he was the first Disney Prince exposed to my generation and how could you not like him? He had perfect black hair, a great smile and cute laugh, lovely blue eyes, loved dogs and could play the flute beautifully.

Even though he was a little distracted in finding his dream girl he treated Ariel (same said dream girl but unknown to him at the time) with respect and showed her about his kingdom when she was without a voice as if she were completely normal without any awkwardness. He was heroic, adventurous and determined but he could also be a daydreamer and a little sullen but that's okay every once in a while and who wouldn't want to live in a beautiful castle by the sea? It was also kind of nice to see Ariel save Eric to show that even though later in the film when she has to be rescued by Eric that she can be just as selfless and heroic depending on the situation and of course we get to see Eric slightly helpless...not just because he's unconscious but something about caring for your man when they are weak as a newborn kitten is endearing.

Christopher Daniel Barnes ( I just love saying his whole name!) was only 16 when he voiced Eric and he had done some television roles before then but you can imagine how his career must have boomed after The Little Mermaid. Nowadays we also think of him as Greg Brady and the voice of Spiderman but he also is the voice for Cinderella's Prince Charming in both of the film's sequels...who else can say they were two princes, a superhero and a groovy, charming big man on campus? Another thing I remember is his face being in teen magazines all about the grocery store and even hanging on the walls of the older girls in my neighborhood when they had to baby-sit me or I had play dates with their little sisters. Although he does the occasional live action role he is mostly a voice over artist for cartoons and video games mostly for of course Spiderman or Kingdom Hearts. Whether he goes by his full name or his initials or even just Chris, he will also be the voice behind Disney's first and only Prince of the 1980s and the first in their Renaissance. Actually Prince Eric was the first Disney prince in almost thirty years after my second choice...

Now Eric may have been the first Disney Prince of my generation but he was not the first Disney Prince I was exposed to...Prince Phillip was. Released on VHS in 1986, it was one of the first Disney films my mother bought me and I have loved the story of Sleeping Beauty ever since and it also technically makes Phillip my first ever crush on an animated male character and probably the archetype of what I find attractive in men (well one of them...) He had that perfect brown hair, beautiful brown eyes, a charming smile, a very lovely singing voice, a playful nature when dealing with his trusted steed Samson and also a very nice dancer. He also seemed to have a very good relationship with his father Hubert despite being more of a forward thinker but despite that he was clearly a dreamer. When he first hears Aurora singing in the forest, he imagines maybe the voice belongs to a wood sprite until he spies her dancing in the forest alongside her animal friends in their make-shift "prince" outfit consisting of his hat, cloak and boots.

Any normal man would think this girl was crazy but Phillip is charmed by her, takes away his "competition" and dances with her in the woods. He startles Aurora but still remains kind and gentle and by the end of their waltz, they are both in love and since he does not know her name or that she is his betrothed princess but just a mere peasant girl, he tells his father he will marry the girl he loves. Phillip was willing to abdicate his future as king of his country to marry a girl below his station after just one afternoon? To a normal person that does sound silly but to a romantic like me (probably the movie that made me so) that is such a sacrifice.

When he gets captured by Maleficent and learns through her taunting of him that his princess is under a spell and needs his kiss to awaken, he is clearly mad and determined to save Aurora and even though the three fairies help him escape the chains and most of the obstacles with magic, its Phillip's heart that drives him own and even though he gets a good "oh crap!" look on his face at Maleficent's dragon form he still fights her and ends up killing off one of Disney's greatest villainesses. If all of this doesn't make Phillip a worthy choice for my top three I don't know what else I could say?

There are not many pictures of Bill Shirley out there and just a small bit of information I could find on him. He began his acting career young and with mostly bit parts until 20th Century Fox hired him as a "ghost voice" for their actors who could not sing and of course, William Shirley had a beautiful, lyric tenor/baritone. He played Stephen Foster in a 1952 film and then after Sleeping Beauty famously did the singing part for Jeremy Brett as Freddy Eynsford-Hill in My Fair Lady ("On The Street Where You Live" to be precise...). Later in life he became a Broadway theater producer and worked in real estate development before dying in 1989 at the age of 68 :(

So if Prince Philip isn't my number one which Disney man gets the mantle of Hottest Disney character in my book? Some of you may have an idea but if you don't all I can tell you is that the movie is fairly recent in the Disney canon and a film that I just could not stop watching and the hero is just one of the reasons why...

So why do I love Flynn/Eugene above all Disney men? First let's get the physical aspects out of the way: I have a thing for the tall, dark and handsome guys so of course having brown hair and brown eyes is a point in his favor and his very nice and trim goatee doesn't hurt (I like goatees on men; my fiancé sports a nice one at times). Also if you hadn't noticed he is kind of strong and athletically built as seen during the break in to the castle (some serious parkour moves like freaking Spiderman!) and climbing up Rapunzel's tower the first time (upper arm strength just using arrows driven into stone?...just wow!) Flynn is also more down to Earth than Rapunzel and a little more serious until some of her quirky charm rubs off on him but you learn that young Eugene had a rough life growing up. He was an orphan (Fitzherbert seriously means bastard son of Herbert...poor kid) who wanted be like the hero in the stories he read to the younger children (hence the name change) but realized that you may need money so he turned to being a thief and kind of ending up in trouble by running with the wrong kind of crowd.

So being kind of driven by envy and greed would make him almost un-heroic but Flynn also has charm and a sense of humor that can work in his favor or just get him in even more trouble but saves him from being a complete jerk. Eventually he grows thanks to Rapunzel's love by going by his given name, smiling more than smirking and also putting someone else before himself. The moment I think that made me completely become a Eugene gal was during the song "I See The Light" and not just because the voice singing sounded like it came from angels! Earlier in the film during the "I've Got A Dream" song Flynn said he didn't sing but then was kind of forced to and it was just going through the motions and singing about his own selfish dreams. During this moment not only is it a love epiphany for both he and Rapunzel but it's when you see how he has grown and changed as the song comes from his heart and well you can guess what that new dream is...

To tell you the truth all I knew about Zachary Levi before Tangled was that he was a very attractive guy playing a character named Chuck. I had no idea he had such a lovely voice so after hearing him sing in Tangled I was very impressed! I admit I didn't really get into Chuck just because of Tangled but I do follow Zachary Levi on Twitter and appreciate his humor and the passion of his causes he tweets about from time to time. I know a lot of people out there believe most people follow celebrities on Twitter to be total stalkers but I follow anyone who makes an impression on me and like finding out that they are as normal as you and me. They may never answer you back but I'm sure they appreciate that you enjoy what they do and believe me I pay a little bit more attention to Zachary Levi's career (if you ever get a chance to see the made for TV movie Remember Sunday that he starred in...prepare to have boxes of Kleenex or at least a bucket for your tears whether they be happy or sad!)

So there you have it my Top Ten Hottest Disney Animated Men. If I had a guy on here that you didn't agree with, I am so sorry but don't hate. As I said there are a lot of Disney guys to choose from and it was kind of hard to narrow it down to just ten based on physical traits and human attributes that I find appealing. I don't make lists to pander to anyone else's ideas and enjoy sharing my opinions and hope that you will enjoy them just as much. If you feel I left a certain character off this list feel free to let me know just please don't be hateful so I don't have to be hateful back there's too much of that going around today...

I hope you'll come back and see what I have up my sleeve next time so until then I hope you enjoy my latest post and give my older ones some love if you wish ;) but no big if you don't...